Personal

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Getting the Ball Rolling

Today was a town day, so I popped into an insurance company to talk about proper insurance for Miranda so I can get started on transferring residency to Saskatchewan.

Aviva doesn’t have an Elite product for Saskatchewan, so I’m at square one for finding a company willing to insure me for living full-time in the rig. The added difficult is that SK has mandatory basic government insurance, so you have to start there then go to a secondary insurer.

I presented myself as a snowbirder who lives in the motorhome and will be parking it during the summer but wanting to keep it street legal and insured properly in case I need to take it for an emergency.

The gal I spoke with made a few calls and got told that I can’t live in my motorhome if I want to be insured by them. I had brought copies of my insurance policies, so she took copies of them and said she would pass them around and try to find someone willing to cobble together an insurance package for me.

That settled (well, not) she said that I am facing ‘additional difficulty.’ She pulled out the list of documents I will need to provide to prove that I am a resident of Saskatchewan and I laughed. This is the first time THAT’S not going to be an issue!

Once I get confirmation that insurance is a go, I will go talk to Kal-Tire about getting my out of province inspections done. I would rather have had those done closer to departure date, but my Alberta insurance runs out at the end of the month, so it would make sense to get this buttoned up before then. If I can get SK insurance, they will NOT insure Miranda if the OOPI and plate transfer from AB haven’t been done.

If I cannot get SK insurance, then I’m going into stealth mode. But it’s been my experience that with money, absolutely anything is possible. We shall see.

My Albert insurance dropped a whopping $250 between both policies this year. Nice to know I didn’t get penalized for a not at fault accident!

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Generator Under Load

Today is my generator’s first test after not running for almost five years. I had no trouble starting it, but I think I made a mistake after.

I keep a lot of my breakers off when I am using the inverter. I fired up the genset before turning those breakers back on. Soon as I slipped the breakers, my GFI buzzed, smoked (white, not black), and tripped, causing all the breakers to trip, too. I took the outlet apart and there is no scorched scent. The wiring looks good. L came in and said everything’s fine but to replace the outlet for my peace of mind.

Otherwise, all is good. I’m running backups now. The genset is not quiet, by any means, but is no more obnoxious than is the engine. L walked around the block and says he can barely hear it from the adjoining streets and properties.

Having the genny essential solves my power issues. I can run everything I use off my inverter, even my rice cooker and crock pot, but if I’m not in a sunny climate, my solar panels can’t always keep up. Having the genny means I can use all those power hungry things and make up for it in a couple of hours in the evening. I won’t be one of those who needs to run the genny just to watch TV or make dinner.

I was going to order myself another solar panel this week, but I’m now going to hold off as I really don’t need it. It would be a nice to have item, but I’m doing fine with just the one and a backup charging solution, so just the one plus TWO backup charging solutions (solenoid and genny) will be get me by.

L is a wonderful person and I love his company, even if it means staying up super late gabbing and drinking way too much on a work night (*g*) and I’d be glad he was here even without all the technical help. But him being an engineer is a really nice perk. 🙂

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Companies Like Novatel Wireless Make Me Sick

I don’t know about you all, but I stand by my work. If a customer has a legitimate complaint, I make it right. So I just don’t get companies like Novatel Wireless that put out junk knowing that it’s junk. The proof of that is in their warranty. You don’t write a warranty like that if you know you’ve got a good product that you can stand by.

Bell Mobility even told me that Novatel knows the Mifi 2 is a disaster but instead of fixing the problem, they are just replacing units.

Moreover, there have been problems with the Mifi since its first iteration, with complaints about dropped signals and the device freezing. Novatel keeps playing with the physical appearance of the device but has shown no interest in fixing its operating issues.

If I had just gotten a lemon, fine. Replace the device and move on. But ALL the devices come with a Trojan horse. So I might have a replacement unit, but I have to live in fear of this happening again. What do I do when my warranty runs out next May with another year on my contract? Needless to say, the next time the device freezes, I am not going to waste time and will demand an immediate replacement.

As a point of contrast, I’ve been in talks with Cascade Designs, manufacturers of the MSR MiniWorks EX Microfilter, since I got back from the wagon train.

My water filter crapped out on me on the Thursday and still isn’t working despite running through all the troubleshooting steps. They have never heard of one doing what mine is doing (not maintaining suction). Am I screwed? No. They’re sending me a new umbrella valve and if that doesn’t solve the problem, they’ll have me ship the unit back to them at their cost so they can repair or replace it. That’s a company that deserves my money.

I’m stuck with Novatel because I need the generous Bell Mobility bandwidth plans and I’m once again struck with the realisation that it’s the Canadian government I am actually angry with for giving me zero choice in communications matters. But I can’t file a Better Business Bureau claim with them, so I’m off to tell Novatel they are bad, bad, bad people and that I am angry with them. Politely and rationally, of course.

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Preparing For a Time Machine Journey

“Some people say that there are no more frontiers left for us to conquer. But then again, some people still go out into the wilderness in search of their dream.”

I think that anyone who’s read this blog since the beginning knows I have a serious fixation on the late 19th century. There are two things I’ve always wanted to do that tie in to that era.

One was accomplished on 17th July, 2010, when I summitted the Chilkoot Pass.

The other will unfold in the next week. Tomorrow, I am traveling deep into the Saskatchewan grasslands, into the very heart of the prairies, and am joining a wagon train!

We will be setting up a base camp, traveling during the day, and returning to camp in the evening. This wagon train happens every year in different areas and sometimes they move camp each day, but this year the style is more that of multiple scouting expeditions. I don’t care how we do it. I am going to get to ride a horse and travel alongside wagons through the prairies!

When Charles and Caroline invited me to join them for their yearly gathering, it was planned that I would travel in their wagon or walk beside it. But a friend of theirs got wind that I know how to ride and has arranged for a part-time horse for me. So I will get to try all three modes of transportation.

This will be my first true vacation since the Chilkoot where I will have to disconnect completely. I’m not even bringing my iPad. The only concession to technology will be my digital camera. So check back Monday the 15th for news about my adventure!

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Cusping

This is the longest time that I have lived a life, and the first time that I have gone so long without wanting a tornado to rip through that life so that I could start over. I still don’t feel that way. I love my life and I embrace all changes to it.

Talking to Donna about her and Ken starting over with a new house, I expressed how I feel that I’m going through a change, too, but couldn’t quite put my finger on how I was feeling. Donna immediately came up with the perfect word: cusping.

She’s right. I am at the cusp of my RVing life as I originally imagined it. I have seen as much of this continent as I need to, any more would be a bonus. I’m getting tired and the idea of traveling a little less is rather appealing, especially if it means being able to save up money to start traveling internationally.

I can tell my life is on a different course now that I have the property and it is working out so well, but I’m not certain yet what the course is. I just have a strong feeling that it’s going to mean winters traveling and summers staying put, unless I can afford to fly out and explore some far flung corner of the globe. But it doesn’t mean moving out of Miranda into a fixed home. I really don’t see that happening.

Going back to Kelowna, I had a meeting with the Women in Trades counsellor at Okanagan College about the RV tech program. Talking with one of the program teachers, it seemed that the demand for RV techs in Saskatchewan could work in my favour and that I could likely get a summer job with the freedom to travel in the winter. I’ve always wanted to learn a trade and RV tech is obviously a good fit for me.

The Women in Trades program also seemed like a good fit at first glance. I qualify for it and would get free tuition, books, and safety equipment. The hiccup is that I either have to live off savings or get a student loan. I cannot earn income while doing the program. I love our governments’ logic.

I always said that I would only go back to school if I could focus on it and enjoy it, so there is no way I would further put myself into debt to attend school, nor do I think it’s realistic to believe I could save up several years’ worth of living expenses. So it looks like taking the RV tech program is not the path I am meant to take.

There are more thoughts rattling around in my brain right now, but that’s all I feel like sharing at this point. I am curious to see where the next few months guide me. Right now, I’m still envisioning myself in Quartzite sometime next winter. 🙂